Hungary August 2018: Pre-WLTP leftovers push VW Jetta to pole position

The VW Jetta is the best-selling nameplate in Hungary for August.

* Now updated with the Top 50 YTD models. See the Top 10 best-selling brands and models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Hungary soar 45% year-on-year in August to 12.931 units, lifting the year-to-date volume up 31% to 95.730 registrations. Here too, rushed registrations prior to the new WLTP emissions testing standards come into effect have turned the sales charts upside down. Here, it would appear the main beneficiary of these last minute discounts were private buyers with a strong 40% ratio of sales in August. Volkswagen (+221%) is up an indecent 3-fold on its August 2017 score to retain the brands pole position for the 2nd straight month ahead of Opel (+31%), Ford (+43%), Toyota (+52%) and Renault (+159%) also artificially pushed. All the while, market leader Suzuki (-30%) seems to have all its ducks in a row and no need to get rid of non-compliant cars.

Model-wise, the VW Jetta, ranked #32 over the First Half of 2018 and about to be discontinued across the European continent, conveniently bounces up to no less than the monthly pole position with 3.8% share, distancing the Dacia Duster – (+56%) managing a natural performance – and the Nissan Qashqai – artificially boosted. The VW Tiguan (#7) and renault Captur (#10) also get a pre-WLTP boost while the market leaders the Suzuki Vitara (-54%), Skoda octavia (+8%) and Suzuki S-Cross (-60%) temporarily lose share.

Previous month: Hungary July 2018: Volkswagen surprise leader, market up 29%

One year ago: Hungary September 2017: Suzuki Vitara up 102% in market up 16.8%

Full August 2018 Top 10 brands and models, Full YTD 2018 Top 50 models below.